High altitude balloon systems and methods

• US 9,540,091 B1
• Filed: 09/23/2016
• Issued: 01/10/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 02/11/2016
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: World view enterprises inc.
• Original Assignee: World view enterprises inc.
• Inventors: Padilla, Sebastian, Farley, Rodger, Beveridge, Iain, Lee, G. Ryan, Basta, Tim, Straus, John, Maccagnano, John Z., MacCallum, Taber Kyle, Leidich, Jared
• Primary Examiner(s): Dinh, Tien
• Assistant Examiner(s): Giczy, Alexander V
• Application Number:
  US15/274,945
• Time in Patent Office: 109 Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: B64B 1/44 adapted to maintain predetermined altitude
• CPC Class Codes: B64B 1/48 to enable load to be dropped by parachute
• CPC Class Codes: B64B 1/58 Arrangements or construction of gas-bags; Filling arrangements
• CPC Class Codes: B64B 1/62 Controlling gas pressure, heating, cooling, or discharging gas
• CPC Class Codes: B64B 1/70 Ballasting arrangements

Abstract

A high altitude lighter-than-air (LTA) system can include a zero-pressure balloon (ZPB) attached in tandem with one or more variable ballast air super-pressure balloons (SPB). The ZPB provides lift for the system while the SPB uses a centrifugal compressor to provide a variable amount of ballast air by pumping in or expelling out ambient air. A solar array coupled with an elongated ladder assembly can be coupled to a payload support for a payload carried by the LTA system. Various advanced performance targets relating to ascent rate, descent rate, range and maximum altitude are achievable with various scaled versions of the basic design of the LTA system. Advanced navigation and control techniques, such as efficient high altitude station-keeping approaches, are made possible with the LTA system.

Claims

1. A lighter-than-air (LTA) high altitude balloon system comprising:

a zero-pressure balloon (ZPB) configured to receive therein an LTA gas to provide an upward lifting force to the balloon system;

a super-pressure balloon (SPB) having an outer skin and configured to couple with the ZPB, the outer skin defining an interior volume configured to receive therein a variable amount of ambient air from a surrounding atmosphere to provide a variable downward force to the balloon system, the SPB external to and suspended from the ZPB;

a centrifugal compressor in fluid communication with the ambient air and with the interior volume of the SPB, the centrifugal compressor configured to compress the ambient air and pump the compressed ambient air into the interior volume of the SPB to increase the downward force to the balloon system;

an adjustable valve in fluid communication with the ambient air and with the interior volume of the SPB, the valve configured to be adjusted to release the compressed ambient air from the interior volume of the SPB to the surrounding atmosphere to decrease the downward force to the balloon system;

a sensor coupled with the balloon system and configured to detect an environmental attribute;

a control system in communicating connection with the sensor, with the centrifugal compressor, and with the adjustable valve, the control system configured to control the centrifugal compressor and the adjustable valve based at least on the detected environmental attribute to control the amount of compressed air inside the SPB to control an altitude of the balloon system;

a plurality of tendons coupled with the SPB and extending along an exterior of the outer skin of the SPB, the plurality of tendons configured to bias the SPB into a substantially pumpkin shape at least when a first pressure inside the SPB is greater than a second pressure of the surrounding atmosphere;

a payload support coupled with the SPB and configured to support a payload;

an elongated ladder assembly coupling the payload support with the SPB such that the payload support is located above or below the SPB when the balloon system is in flight;

a solar array coupled with the elongated ladder assembly; and

an air hose fluidly coupled with the centrifugal compressor, wherein the centrifugal compressor is fluidly coupled with the interior volume of the SPB via the air hose.

2. The high altitude balloon system of claim 1, wherein the centrifugal compressor comprises two or more stages.

3. The high altitude balloon system of claim 1, wherein the centrifugal compressor is configured to provide at least 500 liters of the ambient air per second to the interior volume of the SPB at altitudes above 50,000 feet.

4. The high altitude balloon system of claim 1, wherein the centrifugal compressor is configured to provide the ambient air to the interior volume of the SPB such that a resulting descent rate of the balloon system is at least 10,000 feet per hour at altitudes above 50,000 feet.

5. The high altitude balloon system of claim 1, wherein the adjustable valve is configured to be adjusted to release the pumped-in ambient air from the interior volume of the SPB to the surrounding atmosphere such that a resulting ascent rate of the balloon system is at least 10,000 feet per hour at altitudes above 50,000 feet.

6. The high altitude balloon system of claim 1, wherein the centrifugal compressor comprises two or more stages, and is configured to provide at least 500 liters of the ambient air per second to the interior volume of the SPB such that a resulting descent rate of the balloon system is at least 10,000 feet per hour at altitudes above 50,000 feet, and wherein the adjustable valve is configured to be adjusted to release the pumped-in ambient air from the interior volume of the SPB to the surrounding atmosphere such that a resulting ascent rate of the balloon system is at least 10,000 feet per hour at altitudes above 50,000 feet.

7. The high altitude balloon system of claim 1, wherein the balloon system comprises two or more SPBs connected in series.

8. The high altitude balloon system of claim 1, wherein the air hose extends along and is supported at least in part by the elongated ladder assembly, and the centrifugal compressor is mounted with the payload support.

9. The high altitude balloon system of claim 1, further comprising a parafoil system coupled with the payload support and releasably coupled with the elongated ladder assembly in a stowed configuration, the parafoil system configured to release from the elongated ladder assembly and to deploy into a deployed flight configuration to controllably descend with the payload support to a landing site.

10. The high altitude balloon system of claim 9, wherein the solar array includes one or more solar panels coupled with the elongated ladder assembly.

11. The high altitude balloon system of claim 1, further comprising a gimbal rotatably coupling the ZPB with the SPB, the gimbal configured to rotate the SPB relative to the ZPB, wherein the SPB and the solar array are rigidly coupled with the elongated ladder assembly such that rotation of the SPB with the gimbal rotates the elongated ladder assembly and the solar array to a desired orientation.

12. The high altitude balloon system of claim 11, wherein the ZPB comprises one or more gores, and the gimbal comprises upper and lower separable portions, the balloon system further comprising:

one or more release lines coupling the upper and lower separable portions of the gimbal, the one or more release lines extending adjacent a hot wire configured to be heated and thereby burn the one or more release lines, wherein burning the one or more release lines separates the upper and lower separable portions of the gimbal; and

a tear line coupled with the ZPB and with the lower portion of the gimbal, the tear line configured to at least partially remove the one or more gores of the ZPB due to separation and falling away of the lower portion of the gimbal from the ZPB.

13. The high altitude balloon system of claim 12, wherein the payload support comprises a tetrahedral frame coupled with the SPB.

14. The high altitude balloon system of claim 1, wherein the payload support has a tetrahedral frame.

15. A method of controlling a lighter-than-air (LTA) high altitude balloon system through a troposphere, tropopause and stratosphere, the balloon system comprising a zero-pressure balloon (ZPB) coupled with a super-pressure balloon (SPB), the SPB external to and suspended from the ZPB, a centrifugal compressor fluidly coupled with the SPB and configured to pump ambient air into the SPB, an adjustable valve fluidly coupled with the SPB and configured to release the pumped-in ambient air from the SPB, a payload support coupled with the SPB and configured to support a payload, an elongated ladder assembly coupling the payload support with the SPB such that the payload support is located above or below the SPB when the balloon system is in flight, a solar array coupled with the elongated ladder assembly, and an air hose fluidly coupled with the centrifugal compressor, wherein the centrifugal compressor is fluidly coupled with an interior volume of the SPB via the air hose, the method comprising:

determining a first range of latitude and longitude coordinates corresponding to a first portion of the tropopause having a first plurality of altitudes corresponding respectively to a first plurality of wind directions within the tropopause;

controllably releasing, with the adjustable valve, the ambient air from the SPB to ascend the balloon system from the determined first range of latitude and longitude coordinates within the troposphere and through the tropopause to the stratosphere, wherein the balloon system travels along a first helical trajectory through the tropopause due to the first plurality of wind directions at the first plurality of altitudes within the tropopause, wherein the balloon system ascends at a plurality of ascent rates through the tropopause, and wherein at least one of the plurality of ascent rates is at least 10,000 feet per hour;

determining a second range of latitude and longitude coordinates corresponding to a second portion of the tropopause having a second plurality of altitudes corresponding respectively to a second plurality of wind directions within the tropopause; and

controllably pumping, with the compressor, the ambient air into the SPB to descend the balloon system from the determined second range of latitude and longitude coordinates within the stratosphere and through the tropopause to the troposphere, wherein the balloon system travels along a second helical trajectory through the tropopause due to the second plurality of wind directions at the second plurality of altitudes within the tropopause, and wherein the balloon system descends at a plurality of descent rates through the tropopause, and wherein at least one of the plurality of descent rates is at least 10,000 feet per hour.

16. The method of claim 15, wherein at least one of the coordinates of the first range of latitude and longitude coordinates is not within the second range of latitude and longitude coordinates.

17. The method of claim 15, further comprising:

travelling in a generally horizontal first direction through the troposphere to one of the coordinates of the determined first range of latitude and longitude coordinates before controllably releasing the ambient air to ascend the balloon system through the tropopause and into the stratosphere; and

travelling in a generally horizontal second direction through the stratosphere to one of the coordinates of the determined second range of latitude and longitude coordinates after ascending to the stratosphere and before controllably pumping in the ambient air to descend the balloon system through the tropopause and into the troposphere,

wherein the first direction is different from the second direction.

18. The method of claim 17, further comprising:

maintaining the balloon system within a persistence envelope comprising portions of the troposphere, tropopause and stratosphere, wherein maintaining the balloon system within the persistence envelope comprises cyclically repeating the following;

travelling, from a starting position within the troposphere corresponding to one of the coordinates of the second range of latitude and longitude coordinates, along the generally horizontal first direction through the troposphere to a first location of the troposphere corresponding to one of the coordinates of the first range of latitude and longitude coordinates;

ascending from the first location of the troposphere through the tropopause along the first helical trajectory to a second location within the stratosphere;

travelling along the generally horizontal second direction from the second location of the stratosphere to a third location of the stratosphere corresponding to one of the coordinates of the second range of latitude and longitude coordinates; and

descending from the third location of the stratosphere through the tropopause along the second helical trajectory to an ending position within the troposphere corresponding to one of the coordinates of the second range of latitude and longitude coordinates.

19. A lighter-than-air (LTA) high altitude balloon system comprising:

a zero-pressure balloon (ZPB) configured to receive therein an LTA gas to provide an upward lifting force to the balloon system;

a super-pressure balloon (SPB) configured to couple with the ZPB and configured to receive ambient air within an interior volume to provide a downward force to the balloon system, the SPB external to and suspended from the ZPB; and

a multi-stage centrifugal compressor configured to pump the ambient air into the SPB to increase the downward force to the balloon system, wherein the multi-stage centrifugal compressor is configured to pump the ambient air into the SPB such that a resulting descent rate of the balloon system is at least 10,000 feet per hour at altitudes above 50,000 feet;

an adjustable valve configured to release the pumped-in ambient air from the SPB to decrease the downward force to the balloon system, wherein the adjustable valve is configured to release the pumped-in ambient air from the SPB such that a resulting ascent rate of the balloon system is at least 10,000 feet per hour at altitudes above 50,000 feet;

a payload support coupled with the SPB and configured to support a payload;

an elongated ladder assembly coupling the payload support with the SPB such that the payload support is located above or below the SPB when the balloon system is in flight;

a parafoil system coupled with the payload support and releasably coupled with the elongated ladder assembly in a stowed configuration, the parafoil system configured to release from the elongated ladder assembly and to deploy into a deployed flight configuration to controllably descend with the payload support to a landing site; and

an air hose fluidly coupled with the multi-stage centrifugal compressor, wherein the multi-stage centrifugal compressor is fluidly coupled with the interior volume of the SPB via the air hose.

20. The system of claim 19, wherein the SPB is substantially pumpkin-shaped at least when a first pressure inside the SPB is greater than a second pressure of a surrounding atmosphere.